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Talk:Was Kermit named after a childhood friend of Jim Henson?
title To match the form our other rumor pages, and to help make it clearer what this page is discussing, and to possibily help with SEO: how would people feel about moving this to Was Kermit named after a childhood friend of Jim Henson? -- Brad D. (talk) 16:18, November 4, 2010 (UTC) :Yeah, I think that's a good idea. — scarecroe 18:41, November 4, 2010 (UTC) name I was just listening to the most recent episode of the Henson.com podcast, and in that podcast, I believe that Karen Falk actually talks about the person that Kermit was supposedly named after, talking as if Kermit was named after Jim Henson's childhood friend. And it was Karen Falk who gave the info regarding Kermit's name in Ask Henson.com. Weird. --Minor muppetz 00:45, 19 July 2007 (UTC) :At what time signature is that? I just listened to the same thing and didn't catch that. —Scott (talk) 03:07, 19 July 2007 (UTC) ::I was just listening to it again, and I guess I was mistaking. Maybe I confused this with something I heard on The MuppetCast (which is fan-made and not official). --Minor muppetz 16:22, 19 July 2007 (UTC) Since the subject has come up, I just wanted to add a little to this in case any other question arise. I wanted to write this here so that the main page doesn't get edited to include information from some of the media that's been going around. Certain articles published about Kermit Scott recently claim he was the "inspiration" for Kermit. Even if he were named after Mr. Scott, he was certainly not the inspiration for the character. That seems to be all Jim. Also, on the Muppet Central forum, some people ended up somewhat convinced that Kermit was most definitely named after Kermit Scott. Andrew dealt with this to some degree, but then one of Mr. Scott's children posted in the same thread and stated the folowing: :"Theodore Kermit Scott was a childhood friend of Jim Henson. They used to go fishing down on Deer Creek in Leland Miss. where they both grew up. Theodore Kermit Scott was named after his father who was also the mayor in Leland Miss for many years. His father (my grandfather) went by the name T.K. or Theo. My father always went by the name Kermit. :While it is true that Kermit the Frog was named after my father, Jim Henson did not contact my father after making this fact public, nor did his family upon his death. '' :''Kermit Scott did go on to become a philosophy professor (teaching at Purdue University for 36 years). He was also an advocate for the poor, later getting his social work degree and entering into the counseling field before dying May 26, 2008. :Visit Leland Mississippi and you will find the Kermit the Frog museum right along Deer Creek and right down the road from my father's family home. :So, let the truth be known...Kermit the frog was named after Kermit Scott and as his child it was always a fun story to tell." This is not necessarily fact. Kermit Scott, an old friend of Jim Henson, coincidentally has the same name as one of his creations. Maybe Kermit Scott truly believed that he was the inspiration for Kermit the Frog, that doesn't make it so. People can also make up stories. Remember, Mel Blanc claimed he studied pigs to come up with Porky's voice, and that Bugs Bunny's voice came automatically. Neither story is true, but they sound good. Really, the only person who could ever say for certain whether or not Kermit was named after his old friend is Jim Henson, and according to Karen Falk, Jim has already stated that he was not. --Justin 17:44, 29 June 2008 (UTC) I found this, apparently coming from Jim himself (highlighted in blue): MasterYoshi 05:02, May 25, 2012 (UTC) Attention I've read something similar about Jim having a childhood friend named Kermit, but are we certain that it has been specifically stated that he was named after him? Either way, this article needs to cite its sources. — Scott (talk) 05:32, 15 September 2006 (UTC) :Unfortunately I don't have the book with me, but I feel like something was mentioned in Sesame Street Unpaved about this, probably as a side note on Kermit Love. I know I've heard this before. -- Mary Catherine (talk) 15:08, 15 September 2006 (UTC) ::It crops up in many places, including the Purdue University bio for Theodore Kermit Scott. The question, I guess, is what kind of source would we prefer/accept, and whether a definitive statement in say, The Works or Designs and Doodles or something is preferred over newspaper articles or Purdue. Obviously a direct quote would be best, since the article currently uses the format "Henson says." If we can't find that, then maybe I'll just toss in all we do have, and note "it has been widely reported" or something. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 15:13, 15 September 2006 (UTC) :::The section on Willy in Unpaved mentioned that Kermit was not named after Kermit Love, but nothing about the childhood friend there or in the section on Kermit. If I can get around to it later, I might be able to find something in one of the other biographies. — Scott (talk) 15:16, 15 September 2006 (UTC) ::::Karen Falk mentioned this to me recently. She kind of rolled her eyes about it. She said that Henson knew somebody named Kermit in his childhood, and that may have put the name in Henson's head, but that doesn't mean that the Frog was named after the guy. It just means that Henson knew somebody with an unusual name, and later used that name for a character. ::::But, y'know, that was just personal communication between Karen and me, so it doesn't really count as an official source or anything. I'm just mentioning it. I would imagine that there are printed sources. ::::If we find quotes -- from books or articles, or wherever -- we could put them together in a list, like we do with Counting Countries or Ernie and Bert's Relationship. Then the reader can decide what to believe. -- Danny (talk) 15:23, 15 September 2006 (UTC) :::::Karen's comments are what I was moving toward. A list of sources and quotes sounds like the best way to go. — Scott (talk) 15:58, 15 September 2006 (UTC) ::::::I think that The Story of Jim Henson mentions that Kermit was named after a childhood friend of Jim Henson, but there was also an "Ask Henson" question at Henson.com, which asked about Kermit's namesake, and I think that response mentioend that although Jim Henson had a childhood friend named Kermit, he wasn't named after this friend. --Minor muppetz 20:11, 15 September 2006 (UTC) :::::::Thanks Michael! I'll cross reference those two sources latere tonight. — Scott (talk) 22:37, 15 September 2006 (UTC)